Get Smoothness”

Smoothness” – much of the natural freq’s of a voice are in the mid-range freq’s.  By cutting or boosting in the mid-range, we can optimize the sound so it sounds best.  We can also boost or cut to separate it out in the mix from other vocals and or instruments that might be vying for the same frequencies.  Think of it like this, a bass is low end.  A flute and even a drum kit’s high hat are on the high end.  You want to fill up the sonic space (freq’s) with as much as you can over the whole range.  When you get a bunch of stuff in the same place, that gets you a muddy sound.

Same with bass, boost a little or cut…or not.  Here’s the thing…the best thing you can do is get a solo track of a vocal on CD (or do this during practice).  Move the EQ dials, one at a time, to an extreme.  Once you hear what is bad, it’s easier to then move the dial until you hear what sounds good.  We just need to know the bad to help identify the good.

Additionally, if you have singers with slightly wavering voices or young singers – teenagers, you can add a little vocal reverb effect that will even out their vocal fluctuations.

Maybe it’s something deep within our minds that says “if there is a problem with the sound then we need to boost the problem area.”  However, when it comes to EQ and even cross-channel balancing, this is not always the case.  Cutting frequencies is often the cure.  For example, if two instruments are sharing common frequencies and you want one to stand out, don’t boost the frequency for that instrument.  Cut the frequency of the other.  Lowering other channel volumes can bring the boost to the single channel that you need.  Louder isn’t always better.

One last VERY HELPFUL TIP!  If you are having troubles with cleaning up a male vocal, take a 3-6 dB cut in the 325 to 350 Hz range.  this is where a lot of the muddiness in a vocal can be found.

Lastly, vocal eq is where the science of audio manipulation is surpassed by the art of audio manipulation.  The above tips I mentioned might get you exactly what you want to hear.  But more than likely, they will only point you in the right direction that will eventually lead you to the sound you want.  Listening to several genres of music, you can hear the different types of vocal EQ for that style of music.  Then you add in individual taste in EQ.  You might think that a singer’s vocal EQ is perfect but they think it needs more breathiness or more brightness or more bass.  It’s quite subjective, sorry to say.